


By My Heel, I Care Not

by TalkMagically



Series: Be Rough With Love [1]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Angst, M/M, Romance, Romeo and Juliet AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-05
Updated: 2016-10-05
Packaged: 2018-08-19 18:00:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 13
Words: 17,957
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8219995
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TalkMagically/pseuds/TalkMagically
Summary: Dean Winchester and Michael Shurley butt heads more often than rams during mating season. There is no hope at getting them to play nice any time soon. Sam and Lucifer both know this. However, they don't much care for their brothers' immaturity. They know how to act like the adults they are. They still feel like walking around on egg shells when they start having very adult thoughts about each other.





	1. ER Visits

“I'm sorry, officer. I haven't paid that close attention to the comings and goings of my brother for the past month. Midterms are coming up at school. In fact, they're tomorrow,” Sam apologized.

“Do you know anything about the kind of relationship he had with Michael Shurley, then?” the officer continued.

“Dean hasn't had a single nice thing to say about Michael ever since they first met five years ago. I can't even remember what it was that got them at each other's throats like this.”

“Understandable. What about the rest of the Shurley family? Have you seen your brother interact with any of them?”

“No. The only family member that I can name other than Michael would be his father, Chuck. Mr. Shurley is a philosophy professor on campus,” Sam said. He chuffed before continuing. “I gotta say, though, that Michael's temper probably comes from his mother.”

“Philosophy, you said?” the officer confirmed, writing in his notebook. “We'll be sure to go have a talk with Mr. Shurley, then, in case he can give us an insight. Thank you for your cooperation, Mr. Winchester. We'll call you if we have any other questions.”

Sam nodded, watching the officer walk away before letting out a heavy sigh.

“Dean, dammit,” he muttered. Looking around the room, Sam wondered if any of the nurses would have any idea where he was supposed to wait. The ER waiting room was full of people who were waiting for care. The last thing Sam wanted to do was take a seat from someone who needed it. He decided to stand in the hall instead of bothering one of the nurses. Just as he leaned against the wall, his cell started ringing.

“Hey, dad,” Sam said as soon as he pressed the phone to his ear.

“ _ How bad is it? _ ” John asked, getting straight to the point. Sam let out another sigh as he heard a similar one over the line.

“Dean's still getting stitches. From what I can tell, both he and Michael are being charged with assault. Not that it's going to stick seeing as how they're probably going to drop the charges against each other.”

“ _ Is there anything about this that isn't going to make your mother wish she had a daughter first? _ ”

“Not much. The Impala was left untouched, if that is worth anything,” Sam offered.

“ _ I'm sure your mother will love that your brother's car was left untouched, _ ” John cracked. Sam nodded in agreement, despite his father not seeing him. Mary wouldn't give a damn about the car. Yet again, Dean's little tiff with Michael Shurley has sent the both of them to the emergency room. “ _ If you're finished there, go home. I'm almost done with work. I'll pick Dean up and drive him back to his car. _ ”

“Are you sure, dad? It shouldn't be that much longer.”

“ _ Last I checked, you had multiple tests tomorrow. _ ”

“I do, but...” Sam trailed off. Arguing with his dad wouldn't work now. As often as they butted heads, Sam knew when his father wasn't going to budge. Dean was probably going to get read the riot act on the way back to the Impala. “Yeah, I'm done. I'll head back to campus.”

“ _ Good _ .  _ Now, make sure you actually eat and get some sleep tonight. No all-nighters. You hear me? _ ”

“Yes, dad. I hear you,” Sam chuckled.

“ _ Later, Sammy. _ ” Sam looked at his phone in amusement as John hung up, sliding his phone back into his pocket. He checked his watch to see how much study time he could get in tonight if he were going to include dinner and decided that eating first was his best option. It was already getting near sun down.

Sam wandered back towards the main entrance to the ER when he noticed the tall blond man the other officers had pulled aside when Sam first arrived. It looked like the other man was just released from questioning, as well, and he didn't look at all happy as he texted someone with his own phone.  _ Must be one of Michael's many siblings _ , Sam mused.  _ Probably just as temperamental as Michael. _

Sam sped up his pace in an attempt to get past the other man without being noticed, lest he get pulled into an argument over their brothers, but the blond looked up from his phone just as Sam was passing and paused his texting.

“Hey. You're Winchester's little brother, aren't you?” the other man asked, shoving his phone into his jacket pocket without finishing his text.

“Ummm,” Sam stuttered, frozen in place. “Yeah.”

“Many apologies from the Shurley family,” the man said as he gave a door down the hall a disappointed look. “Not all of us are like my older brother. Is your brother going to be alright?”

“Yeah,” Sam said. He felt like gaping at the other man. Did he really just get an apology?

“That's good,” the blond replied. There was a short, awkward silence before the man gave Sam a smile. “You are clearly a man of few words. I take it Dean is the loquacious one of the two of you?”

“What?” Sam sputtered, taken aback by both the comment and the smile. That was a smile that made butterflies flutter in Sam's stomach. The blond let out a laugh.

“You've been giving me single syllable answers. I just figured that you don't talk all that much.”

“No, it's not like that. I'm just...” Sam trailed off, wondering how he could word it without sounding like an ass. “Michael and your father are the only members of your family I've interacted with, and I'm rather used to Michael's vitriol.”

“Of course,” the other man said with a nod. “Well, I'm Lucifer. Now you've interacted with three of us. I do hope my father and I are a better example of the family than Michael is.”

“Lucifer?” Sam zoned in on his name. “Your parents seriously named you Lucifer?”

“Unfortunately. Doesn't do well for the dating scene, I can tell you that,” Lucifer rolled his eyes in irritated amusement.

“I bet not,” Sam laughed. Lucifer gave him another smile, causing him to slowly stop laughing. He'd known this man all of ninety seconds. Lucifer's smile really shouldn't be causing his stomach to flip flop like this. He needed an excuse to leave. “Well, I... I kinda need to go. I have midterms tomorrow, and I promised my dad I'd make sure to eat something before burying myself in my books.”

“Likewise. Having a college professor as a parent kinda makes it difficult to do a proper all-nighter before midterms and finals. It just ruins the college experience, in my opinion,” Lucifer said, scrunching his face.

A buzzing sound interrupted before Sam could reply. Lucifer pulled his phone back out and read the text before letting out a sigh. Sam stood there and watched Lucifer type a lengthy response, feeling it would be rude to just leave without some kind of farewell.

“I take it the rest of your family isn't that happy with Michael, either?” Sam asked when Lucifer finally returned his phone to his pocket.

“That was Gabriel, actually. Michael's shadow. He's a tad... vicious. Won't stop asking me to retaliate, claiming it's for our family's honor or some other bullshit. I have a feeling your brother would have been worse off if Gabriel had been there.”

“Seriously?” Sam wasn't too surprised. Lucifer was civil, but hot tempers tend to run in families. His own family was proof of that.

“Yeah. Hey, since I'm in the same boat as you in terms of studying and being forced to eat, why don't we both ditch this popsicle stand and let our brothers figure their own problems out? I don't know about you, but I'm going to let Michael find his own damn ride back to his car. Gabriel probably won't hesitate to come running, anyway,” Lucifer motioned towards the door. “I could use a study buddy.”

Sam paused, considering the consequences of agreeing. He was at the ER because his brother got into a brawl with the oldest Shurley child. Now Lucifer, Michael's brother, was suggesting they get something to eat together after only having known each other for three minutes and admitting that things could have been worse if another Shurley child had been there for the fight. Sam was bouncing back and forth on the pros and cons list in his head when Lucifer's face turned into a hopeful grin. Sam was lost after that.

“Sure. Why not?”


	2. Study Buddies

Sam read the question off of Lucifer's flash card, looking up in expectation as Lucifer tried to remember the answer. The cafe table in front of them was covered in dishes and study materials, dinner long forgotten as the two of them crammed.

“Hypertonic saline?” Lucifer drawled.

“Correct,” Sam answered. He set the flash card in the discard pile, which promptly fell over and spread the cards over the table and floor. Sam didn’t know which was worse: his study materials for pre-law or Lucifer’s study materials for pre-med. Just looking at how much the both of them had stacked on their table made Sam want to gouge his eyes out.

“Jesus fu-” Lucifer muttered, bending over to retrieve the cards from the floor as Sam cleaned up the table. Lucifer shoved the cards back into his bag instead of placing them back on the table and did the same for the rest of his flash cards. “Okay, we need something else to focus on. Isn’t one of your midterms tomorrow on the history of US civic law?”

“We covered that already,” Sam reminded Lucifer. He leaned forward on his elbows and rubbed his face as he let out a yawn.

“What about rhetoric?”

“Did that first.”

“Is there anything we haven’t covered?” Lucifer whined. He gulped the last of his coffee and half-way slammed the mug back on the table, one of his legs beginning to bounce from excess caffeine.

“Your organic chemistry midterm?” Sam asked. He drained the last of his own coffee, mentally debating if he should get more now or later.

“I can get through that midterm in my sleep. I’ve been absorbing the material like crazy,” Lucifer said as he slouched back. The both of them looked over the piles of material in front of them in an attempt to find something they haven’t touched yet.

“You boys doing alright?” their waitress asked as she approached. She wasn’t wearing her name tag anymore and had her coat on.

“We’re splendid,” Lucifer replied, letting out a sigh of defeat.

“You heading home?” Sam asked, noting the change in her uniform.

“Yep. It is nearly midnight. Time to get some sleep. If you two are going to be staying longer, then Andrew will be taking over for me. Any last thing I can get for you two before I clock out? More coffee?”

“No, thank you,” Sam shook his head.

“I’m fine,” Lucifer said.

“Good. Well, you two have a good night. I hope you do well on your tests tomorrow,” the woman said. She gave them both a smile before walking away.

“She’s right, you know. It  _ is _ nearly midnight. We’ve been here for six hours,” Sam pointed out.

“I know,” Lucifer yawned. He looked over the table again before grabbing piles of his own materials and putting them in his bag. “We should probably get going.”

Sam wasn’t going to argue. He was exhausted, and he had learned the hard way that tests are just harder if you show up tired. He started shoving his own materials into his bag. It wasn’t long before the both of them had their things packed, their bill paid, and were out the door.

“So…” Lucifer trailed off, leaning against his passenger car door as Sam put his backpack into the trunk of his own car.

“Yeah?”

“Tonight was fun. The wide variety of materials to go over didn’t make it seem like we were cramming as much as we were.”

“True,” Sam agreed, walking up towards his driver’s door. “I didn’t realize I’d be learning so much about human anatomy, chemistry, or biology tonight.”

“You gotta let me know how you did on your midterms after tomorrow. I wanna know how combining our study strategies worked out.”

“Will do.”

An awkward silence grew between them as they stared at each other, not sure how to continue. It wasn’t every day that you ate dinner and studied with the brother of your brother’s rival.

“There you are!” a high pitched voice called out, grabbing their attention. A blonde woman stepped out of a car as the brunette behind the wheel shut it off, the blonde walking towards Sam and Lucifer without waiting for the other woman. “We’ve been looking for you at all the usual places. Should have thought to check here first. You do need to eat, after all.”

“Lilith,” Lucifer said. “Midterms are tomorrow. Why did you bother to look for me in the first place? You know I’m always buried in my study materials come test time.”

“We heard about the fight between Michael and the Winchester earlier today and how they ended up in the ER again. We wanted to check in with you.”

“Correction,” the brunette interrupted, catching up. “Lilith wanted to check in with you. I knew better. If you weren’t at the ER with Michael, then he was obviously well enough for you to leave him alone.”

“Ruby,” Lucifer grinned, giving her a kiss on the cheek. Lilith let out a miffed expression, but said nothing. Sam would be lying if he claimed he didn’t adopt his own bitch face.

“Have fun with your studying?” Ruby asked.

“Oh, you know me. Gotta pull my hair out at some point or else it’s not truly studying. Not everyone can be a Journalism major,” Lucifer cracked.

“Kiss my ass,” Ruby laughed.

“Who’s your new friend?” Lilith asked, pulling Lucifer’s attention back to her. Lucifer gave Sam a look for a few moments, collecting his thoughts before answering.

“This is Sam. Picked him up at the ER. Poor thing looked lost, so I offered him dinner,” Lucifer said. He gave Sam a mischievous grin. “You know me. I’m a sucker for the tall ones.”

Sam’s face grew red as Ruby burst into laughter, Lilith joining in half-heartedly. He knew he was attracted to Lucifer now that he spent six hours with the man, but he didn’t think Lucifer would joke about the reverse.

“Hello, Sam. I’m Ruby. Luci’s wing man. Or partner-in-crime, depending on what’s on our agenda for the evening.” Ruby stuck her hand out for a shake, which Sam gave.

“I’m apparently Lucifer’s new study buddy. We just spent the last six hours going over our joint study materials,” Sam said.

“Oooo! Are you pre-med, as well?!” Lilith gushed. Sam winced at the fake enthusiasm, wondering why the others weren’t acknowledging it.

“No. I’m pre-law. Vastly different material.”

“Damn. I bet you got some good material rotation with that,” Ruby said as she turned back to Lucifer.

“You bet your ass we did. I’m feeling more confident now than I usually do when I study on my own or with a fellow pre-med student. What about you, Sam?” Lucifer asked.

“Rotating the material was a great way to prevent burn out. I won’t know until tomorrow if it helped any, though,” Sam said. “However, now I should be getting home. Sleep is a necessity for the average human.”

“Correct!” Lucifer yelled, grabbing the opportunity to break things up. “Sleep is a necessity for proper health. Why don’t the three of us let Sam head on home to get some shut eye, and I’ll update you two on Michael’s latest shenanigans with Winchester.”

“Agreed. Well, it was nice meeting you, Sam. I’m sure we’ll be seeing each other again. Lucifer just has that way with people,” Ruby said.

“It’s been a pleasure,” Lilith inserted before Sam could respond to Ruby.

“Yeah,” Sam said slowly, unsure if he should even bother to return the sentiment. “You got my number, Lucifer. Call me the next time you want to hang out.”

“Will do. Have a good night!” Lucifer gave Sam a grin and a small wave, pulling a snort out of Sam.

“Good night,” Sam returned. 

He got into his car before on the women said something else to keep him there longer. As he drove away, he wondered why Lucifer withheld details from his supposed friends. They weren’t Lucifer’s sisters. That much was obvious. They probably would have recognized Sam as Dean’s younger brother if they were related to Lucifer. But they didn’t recognize him and Lucifer didn’t reveal that Sam was also a Winchester after the women mentioned the fight between Dean and Michael. Whoever they were to Lucifer, Sam was willing to bet that the next time they meet would be interesting.


	3. Midterms, Mooning, and Other Things

Lucifer slammed his trunk closed, glad that midterms were finally over with. Now he could drink. The day after midterms and finals were the only days he ever had any real time to relax, and it was one of the few times he was able to enjoy a local brew.

“You’re not going to leave without me, are you?” a voice called up. Lucifer let out a heavy sigh and turned towards the source.

“Now, why would I leave my favorite little brother behind?” he cracked.

“I don’t know,” Gabriel said, giving Lucifer a smirk. “Why’d you make me pick up Michael last night?”

“Unlike the rest of you slackers, I actually study. I needed to go get some studying done.”

“Sure.”

“Seriously. I was at the Cafe until midnight. Just ask Lilith and Ruby. That’s where they found me,” Lucifer insisted.

“I did ask Lilith. Lilith confirmed that she found you there at midnight. She also told me that you weren’t there alone. Who’s this tall glass of water that you were drooling over?” Gabriel asked. Lucifer rolled his eyes and decided to get into his car without answering. Gabriel scrambled to get in before Lucifer drove off, giving his big brother a glare as Lucifer sped towards the parking lot exit. “Seriously, Lucifer. You picked up a guy in the ER waiting room of all places.”

“Who I swoon over is none of your concern until I introduce them to you. Ruby and Lilith only met him because they decided to track me down instead of leaving me to study. I think he and I should hang out several more times before I introduce him to the family,” Lucifer said.

“Come on. We’re not that intimidating. An average, any day of the week dinner would be a great time to bring him home,” Gabriel insisted. He searched his bag for a small agenda and pulled it out. He opened it to the page that covered the entire month and pointed to a specific day. “There. Next Thursday would be great. Raphael is heading north for some school retreat. There’ll actually be some humor in the house.”

“No means no, Gabriel,” Lucifer hissed, jerking the wheel to the right to make a sharp turn through a green light. Gabriel glared at Lucifer again after his head thudded against the passenger window.

“Sheesh. You’d think you already slept with the guy.”

“Don’t so be lewd. I never have sex on the first date. Hell, the first date hasn’t even happened. All we did was study together. What is your big obsession with meeting the guy, anyway?” Lucifer gave Gabriel a look.

“Lilith moons over you on an almost daily basis, especially ever since what happened with Nick. A gorgeous, tall, blonde woman moons over you. Why the hell would you ignore a fine piece like _that_?”

“Okay, _that_ is a woman so perhaps you should start addressing her as such,” Lucifer said. “Now, I know Mom keeps on trying to push me into a relationship with Lilith, but I just don’t see her that way. It would be like dating Ruby. Just...no. Just no.”

“You need to move on from Nick, Lucifer, and stop blaming yourself for what happened. Lilith will be good for you!” Gabriel continued as if Lucifer hasn’t said anything to him.

“I don’t blame myself!” Lucifer snapped.

“Then why is it taking you so long to get back in the game? You said you were done mourning a while ago.”

“Last time I checked, Gabriel, me swooning over that ‘tall glass of water’ would be considered me playing the game. Just because you and some of the others don’t exactly approve of my bisexuality doesn’t mean it doesn’t count.”

Lucifer mentally thanked God that they finally arrived back at the house and he had a way of getting out of the car. He loved his little brother, he really did, but Gabriel had the stubbornness of an ass. Once Gabriel got his mind focused on something, it was extremely difficult to get him to switch his attention to something else.

“I just think Lilith would be good for you.”

“She’s not,” Lucifer said. He turned his car off and immediately got out, heading into the house instead of collecting his backpack from his trunk. Gabriel would stop following him as soon as he hit the front stairs to the upper floor of the house, so Lucifer wanted to get there quickly. Conversations like these made him glad that they lived so close to campus.

Lucifer let out a breath in relief when he reached the top of the stairs with his bedroom door in sight. Lucifer could hear Michael’s latest rant through the door as he passed Michael’s bedroom, but he knew that was something he would have to address later. He didn’t want to deal with Michael bitching about Dean while he daydreamed about boning Dean’s little brother. The last thing that Lucifer needed was to say ‘Sam’ instead of ‘Dean’ to Michael when he wasn’t even supposed to know who Sam was.

“How was midterms?” Ruby greeting Lucifer the moment he walked into his bedroom. Lucifer swore under his breath and refused to look at Ruby as he headed for his desktop computer. “Did you dream a little dream of a certain scrawny giant as you zoned out during testing?”

“What?” Lucifer paused his walking. He probably should have seen this coming. Lilith was as dense as a rock, but Ruby wasn’t an idiot.

“Don’t give me that shit. I know that Sam is Sam _Winchester_. I used to be friends with his ex-girlfriend, Jessica, before she ran off with Brady,” Ruby said, swinging her legs over the side of Lucifer’s bed so she could sit up. “At first I was shocked that he didn’t recognize me, but then I remembered that I used to bleach my hair. Anyway, I also know the face that you were giving him last night while trying to rush him into his car. You want to tie him to your bed and not let him go until you’ve had your way with him.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Lucifer said. He sat down at his desk and turned his computer on. Grades weren’t going to be posted for a few days, but his classmates were going to swarm the school forums to compare their answers. Lucifer wasn’t going to miss the chance to double check his own answers.

“Don’t play stupid. You admitted that you met him at the ER, and he is Dean Winchester’s only sibling. I know how to add one plus one,” Ruby said.

“How did you even get into my house?” Lucifer asked, hoping it would distract her.

“Your father let me in. His afternoon class was cancelled because a water pipe burst in the ceiling of his classroom. Why do you think it’s a good idea to be chasing Sam Winchester? Michael is going to go apeshit when he finds out.”

“Michael will _not_ find out!” Lucifer yelled as his spun his chair around. “Are you _crazy_?! Michael finding out the last damn thing I need right now.”

“Lucifer, you spent six hours with Winchester’s baby brother under the guise of helping each other study when really you just wanted an excuse to stare. Granted, I see what you see. Sam Winchester is finer than chinaware. I would have jumped him, myself, if Jessica hadn’t beaten me to it. But you are an idiot if you think this can develop into anything without causing mass chaos in his and your families,” Ruby said. She stood up and walked across the room to Lucifer. “Michael and Dean have all but guaranteed that there’s no such thing as peace between everyone.”

“What Michael and Dean don’t know can’t hurt anyone,” Lucifer insisted, turning back to his computer. He didn’t want to argue over Sam at the moment.

“That’s a dangerous mindset, Luci,” Ruby muttered. “Do you really want to risk it?”

“I’d rather find out if he’s worth the risk before I make that decision,” Lucifer replied. He had spent all of six hours with Sam. A few more dates, and maybe an actual date, would tell him if Sam was truly worth the risk.

“Alright. Just be careful,” Ruby said, rubbing Lucifer’s shoulder.


	4. Mixed Signals and Choir Practice

“I don’t know, honey. It sounds like he sent a lot of mixed signals,” Ellen said. She wiped off the bar counter as she collected empty glasses. Sam slowly followed her down the bar, nodding along to everything she was saying. “Wonderful boy, don’t get me wrong. I’ve met Lucifer Shurley before when one of his friends held a bachelor party here. But I wouldn’t take anything at face value just yet, considering the tiff Dean and Michael Shurley are currently in.”

“I’m just trying to figure out how Lucifer could possibly be related to Michael. They are complete polar opposites,” Sam said.

“That’s what siblings will do to you when you have a lot of them, Sam. You lucked out. You’ve only got Dean. Lucifer has an older brother and quite a few younger siblings. Granted many of them are his cousins that his parents have taken in, but it still led to a full household. He and Michael must have butt heads a lot growing up, and Lucifer didn’t want to be anything like this older brother,” Ellen continued. She stopped at the end of the bar to look at Sam directly when he let out a sigh.

“I don’t know. Even though we were studying and cramming as much information into our heads as possible, I had a fun time with him. I just don’t know if I should take the risk and show I’m interested in more than friendship.”

“Now, boy, you listen to me,” Ellen declared as she used her bar rag to point at Sam. “I know I just told you not to take anything at face value, but don’t you dare use that as an excuse to hold back. Have some fun. Live a little. Lord only knows how much socialization you’ve gotten ever since you and Jess split.”

“You mean ever since Jess cheated on me and ran off,” Sam spat, glaring at the floor. 

It would have been one thing if Jess had cheated on him with some random guy, but it had been Brady. It had been his best friend. How was Sam supposed to react to finding out that his girlfriend and best friend were fucking each other while he had to dig for a random law record in the library stacks for an assignment? They both knew he had a full plate because he both wanted and needed to earn his full ride scholarship. They took advantage of his temporary ignorance, anyway.

“Don’t focus on the past. Focus on the now. You’ve got a handsome young pre-med student that makes butterflies flutter in your stomach every time he so much as smiles at you. Sam, take that and run with it. I know I’ve gotta settle with your brother being my possible future son-in-law, the smart ass he is, but that doesn’t mean I’m not looking forward to seeing who you end up being with for the rest of your life, as well. You’re just as fine a young man as your brother, temper and all. Lucifer would be lucky to have you,” Ellen said. “Have you mentioned any of this to your father?”

“No,” Sam answered. He took a seat on one of the stools and began to fiddle with the pile of napkins in front of him. “He’s been playing referee between Dean and Mom the last two days. Mom would have keyed the finish on Dean’s car if Dad hadn’t stopped her. He’s spoken with me a little bit to make sure I ate and slept like I promised, and to ask how I felt I did on my midterms, but that’s about it. I didn’t mention Lucifer to him because Dean was around at the time.”

“Well, there you go. I think you should get a guy’s point-of-view on this, and I think your father would be perfect. He survived the constant arguing with your mother before they eventually fell in love and had you two boys. He might have some advice on how to deal with the fallout if word gets to Dean or Michael that you and Lucifer are being friendly with each other before the two of you can define whatever it is you want from each other.”

“True,” Sam admitted. He  _ had _ already been looking for an opportunity to speak with his father about it, but hearing Ellen suggest it validated his reasoning for it. John Winchester never liked to have the actions of one brother affect the other, so he wouldn’t see why Sam couldn’t pursue Lucifer for more than just friendship.

“Listen, if it’ll help any, I’ll put a bug in Jo’s ear that she and Dean should take a day to themselves to get Dean out of the house. Maybe that’ll give you some time to talk to your father. It’ll even give your mother some time to cool off.”

“That would help loads, actually. Thank you, Ellen,” Sam said. “Dean will jump on the chance to get away from Mom right now.”

“Any time. Now, get outta here so I can finish setting up for tonight’s crowd. I’ve got another party renting out the back hall,” Ellen ordered.

Sam gave Ellen a grin in appreciation before heading for the door. He learned the hard way that you do as you’re told in Ellen’s bar. Ignoring her demands does not lead to anything good for everyone involved.

* * *

 

Lucifer chewed his food mindlessly as Eve droned on and on about wedding plans. His future sister-in-law deemed him the best person to go to for wedding plan advice for some reason.

“And don’t get me started on how stubborn your older brother is. I had to agree to have the rehearsal dinner at Ferch’s just to get him to agree to have the reception at Georgio’s,” Eve ranted.

“Georgio’s costs an arm and a leg. It’s no wonder Michael wanted the rehearsal dinner at someplace cheap,” Lucifer said, latching onto one of the details that registered so Eve wouldn’t realize that he’d been zoning in and out the last half hour.

“But this is our wedding!” Eve argued.

“Do you want to start your marriage completely broke?” Lucifer countered. “I know you and Michael are on the fast track to making fat paychecks, but you two still have to survive between now and then. You haven’t even moved in together yet.  Are you taking that into consideration when reviewing your wedding budget?”

“You’re right,” Eve said. She let out a pout as she looked back down at the papers she had been going through during her rant. “We haven’t booked the ceremony hall yet. Perhaps we can make the ceremony smaller to compensate for the larger reception. Besides you and Lilith, everyone else is really just extras. We can cut back on the ceremony invites.”

“I’m sure you and Michael will find a balance, Eve. You always make your plans work out. Now, I’ve been here a while. I should get going if I want to make it to the meeting in time.”

“Remind me again why you’re in your college choir?” Eve said with a smirk.

“Because I smoke all those bitches with my tonal range,” Lucifer replied sarcastically, mimicking Ruby’s voice.

“Oh, my god, Luce,” Eve chided as she burst into laughter. “Ruby is a bad influence on you.”

“Haters gonna hate,” Lucifer continued as if Eve hadn’t said anything.

Lucifer stood up and waved at Eve as she went on laughing. He headed out of the kitchen to go collect his wallet and keys from his room before leaving, making a mental list of things he needed to get done that day after he was finished at the choir meeting. When the idea of calling Sam came across this mind, Lucifer grabbed his Bluetooth and slipped it on as he walked to his car.

“ _ Hello _ ,” Sam answered.

“Hey!” Lucifer said. “Are you going to be free in a couple hours?”

“ _ I should be. It’s a free-for-all night at home, so no one should be expecting me to stay for dinner. Why? _ ”

“I have a choir meeting to attend, then I’m going to be free for the rest of the evening. I was wondering if you wanted to hang out,” Lucifer asked.

“ _ Ummm, _ ” Sam started. A few rustling noises came over the line as Sam moved something around. “ _ Yeah, sure. I don’t have much reading material left here, so I should be done with my homework by the time you’re done with your meeting. How long will it be? _ ”

“It’ll only be 90 minutes long. We’re just planning out some things we want to do next semester before our top performers graduate. Is that long enough for you?”

“ _ Yeah _ ,” Sam answered after a short pause. “ _ More than long enough. I’ll send you a text when I’m done with my reading.” _

“Fantastic. Think of something you’ll want to do between now and then. See you in a couple hours!” Lucifer said.

“ _ See you soon, _ ” Sam said before hanging up.

Lucifer took off his Bluetooth and turned it off before tossing it onto his passenger seat. It didn’t take him much longer to get to campus and be walking into the choir room.

“‘Bout time you arrived! How is it that your family is able to arrive on time but you can’t?” Gabriel mocked from his chair across the room.

“How is it I’m the only one in the family that Eve trusts to make wedding plans with when Michael’s not available?” Lucifer shot back. Gabriel made a face at the blow.

“It’s not my fault Eve can’t take a joke. She needs to get over it,” Gabriel said.

“You led her to believe that her pet snake got caught in her wall and watched her take a hammer to said wall before revealing that Michael took the snake to its vet appointment for her. It’s your own damn fault she’s pissed at you,” Lucifer said. He took his seat in the group and purposely turned his attention to the group leader so Gabriel wouldn’t have the chance to reply. “Now that everyone’s here, any update on our grant for next year?”

“We’ve been guaranteed half. The director is pushing to get us more from the board, but she’s had to start submitting requests to groups outside the college as a back-up plan. It’s not looking like we’re going to get any more from the board,” Erin, the group leader, replied.

“What are we going to do if we don’t get the full amount we need for next year? Some of our bookings don’t offer refunds,” another member asked.

“We’ll have to cancel the bookings that we can get refunds from. Until we know what our exact budget will be, though, we will plan as if we’re getting the full amount we’ll need. That means we will have five full events next semester with four smaller events that we do for the various charities in the area,” Erin said.

“The director approved that kind of schedule? That’s pushing our ability to practice in between events,” Lucifer pointed out.

“We’ll be repeating songs at all the charity events, so we’re really only practicing for our five main events.”

“That doesn’t answer my question. Even with repeated songs, we still need to practice in between events to make sure we don’t falter during the performance.”

“The director is hesitant about it,” Erin admitted. “However, I’m sure we’re all more than capable of doing it if we push ourselves to our limits.”

“Some of your best performers aren’t going to be able to push themselves to their limits,” Gabriel inserted. “In case you forgot, Michael’s getting married next semester. Lucifer and Lilith are going to be busy with planning leading up to the date because they’re the best man and maid of honor. Do you really want to be pushing the rest of the group to pick up the slack that Lucifer and Lilith will be leaving as they do their duties?”

“Gabriel,” Lucifer began.

“No, Lucifer, your brother is right to remind us of that,” Erin interrupted. “This is why we plan things ahead of time. Gabriel, to answer your question, no. I do not expect the group to fill in the gaps that Lucifer and Lilith will be creating as they miss practices to perform their other obligations. However, I do plan on leaving their solos for the events we hold after the wedding. We’ll have others do the solos in the concerts leading up to the wedding so we have a variety of featured talent throughout the semester without taxing any one performer too much. We all know Lucifer and Lilith are our best. They should be put in the spotlight in our biggest concert of the semester to create the biggest impact on our audience.”

“You want Lilith and me to do the solos for the Exhibition?!” Lucifer exclaimed. The rest of the group hadn’t known that the director had booked that event for them, but the shock of the announcement made Lucifer break the secret. The Smithsonian Exhibition was the largest event held in the city, and it only happened every five years. It wasn’t often the largest museum in the country made their way to the West Coast to fundraise.

“Yes,” Erin answered.

“Are you crazy? We should be getting alumni to come back to do the solos for that performance. Our entire reputation will hinge on how well we perform at that event,” Lucifer said.

“Why are we even doing it in the first place? They always get professional groups to perform at the fundraising benefit for the exhibition,” a group member spoke up, clearly shocked at the news.

“The director cashed in a few favors to get us in the line-up. We are the best we have ever been in years, people. The director wants to showcase us in the best way possible,” Erin said.

“We would have to drastically cut back on the amount of events we do if we want to perform at a high enough standard for that event. There is no way we can do nine events if we’re doing the exhibition,” a woman said. The rest of the group began to murmur in agreement.

Lucifer fell silent as everyone around him started to argue over their intended schedule for next semester. He had no idea what motivated Erin to plan so many performances, but it was guaranteed to overwork the group. There was no way they could get that much practice in. Twenty minutes later, after the meeting fell into chaos, Gabriel made his way over to Lucifer.

“Are you paying attention to anything that’s going on?” Gabriel asked.

“No. I’m just waiting until I can leave,” Lucifer muttered.

“Well, then to update you, I think the group is about to overthrow Erin and kick her off the island. Looks like you’re next in line for the throne,” Gabriel said.

“I have enough on my hands, thank you. Don’t be putting that idea in the others’ heads.”

“Too late. They thought it up before I could even say anything. Apparently the best of the best is the only option to replace Erin.”

“I’m not taking the position,” Lucifer insisted. He adjusted his position on his chair before pulling out his phone to see how much longer he had to wait until he could plausibly leave. There was no way any work was going to be done at this meeting anymore. He just had to wait until it was over.


	5. Play Dates

Sam tossed his textbook aside. Never before had he been so relieved to finish homework. He was close to ripping out his own eyeballs from how much he’s had to read over the last few weeks.

“Sam!” John’s voice echoed throughout the house.

“Yeah, Dad?” Sam yelled back. He got off his bed and headed out the door in search of the room his father was in. Dean and Mary were out of the house in a short respite from each other, so he and John have had full run of the place most of the day.

“Gonna be home for dinner?” John asked as Sam entered the kitchen.

“Unlikely,” Sam answered. He took a seat at the breakfast bar and smiled as he watched his father dice up potatoes. “I’m going to be heading out within the hour.”

“I’ll save you a plate, then,” John said. He scooped up the pile of potato pieces he had created and dropped them into the pot of boiling water on the stove. “It’s your favorite.”

“If I had known that, then I wouldn’t have made plans,” Sam admitted with a pout. He lived and breathed his father’s chuck roast with homemade mashed potatoes. The combination of flavors was worthy of drooling over.

“You can invite your play date here, you know. Your mother always welcomes company,” John pointed out. Sam grimaced at the idea of having Lucifer and Dean in the same room. John noticed and gave Sam a frown. “What’s wrong with your friend coming here? You’ve never had any issues before.”

“It’s just that…” Sam started. He didn’t know which detail to reveal first.

“Just that what?” John prodded.

“He’s a  _ new _ friend.”

“New,” John repeated. He gave Sam a knowing look. The last time Sam used that terminology to describe a person, he had brought home his first boyfriend. It meant Sam was bracing himself for a blow that probably wasn’t going to happen. “Does ‘New’ have a name?”

“Yeah, but I’m not sure I want that revealed just yet. His name comes with drama,” Sam said.

“Is it Michael Shurley?”

“Dear god, no! Hell no!” Sam yelled in shock as John burst into laughter.

“Then what’s the big deal?” John asked in between laughs.

Sam glared at his father, earning more laughter in return.

“He’s  _ related _ to Michael Shurley,” Sam said.

“So what?” John scoffed, getting himself back together so he could continue cooking.

“So what? Dean’s gonna throw the biggest of bitch fits when he finds out!” Sam exclaimed. There was no way his eardrums were going to survive that encounter, and that would be before Dean would attempt to kick Lucifer’s ass.

“Michael’s relatives aren’t Michael, Sam. Perhaps you should give your brother the chance to show an iota of maturity,” John said. “It’s not like Dean has interacted with anyone else in that family, anyway.”

“That’s true,” Sam said.

“Now, what’s he like? This mystery guy that you refuse to name,” John asked as he checked the roast in the oven.

“He’s a medical student. Has a workload like mine. When he’s not in class, at work, or doing activities, he’s at home doing homework. We first met in the ER waiting room the other night after you called me,” Sam said.

“Dutiful younger brother like you,” John noted.

“Yes,” Sam agreed. That was one way to describe Lucifer. Lucifer complained about having to always save his siblings’ asses when they got into trouble, but Lucifer never said he wanted to stop doing it.

“Any details that’d endear him to your mother?” John asked with a mischievous look. Sam rolled his eyes.

“He’s in his college choir,” Sam revealed. It was obvious that John was asking for specific details that would reveal which of the Shurley children Sam was talking about, but Sam didn’t think his father knew enough about Lucifer to make the connection.

“That’d do it,” John said. “Your mother always loved a serenade, even when she forced me into it.”

“He is  _ not _ going to be singing to me from outside my bedroom window,” Sam insisted.

“I’m sure,” John said.

The questions ended, and a silence grew between the two of them as John continued with his cooking tasks. Sam fiddled with his phone and watched the analog clock on his lock screen tick away the seconds. He had half an hour before Lucifer’s meeting was scheduled to finish.

“I talked to Ellen about him,” Sam spoke up. “She said I should also talk to you to get a guy’s point-of-view.”

“Ellen’s a smart woman. I’d trust any piece of advice she gives you,” John replied.

“She says I’m getting mixed signals and should be careful about how much I trust this guy,” Sam continued.

“Mixed signals how? There are multiple ways you can be sent mixed signals,” John asked.

“About whether or not he’s interested in being more than just friends. He’ll act and say things that say he is interested, but then he’ll act and say things that say the opposite ten minutes later. It’s confusing,” Sam said.

“Has he ever used the term ‘friend’ in reference to you when you’ve been around to hear it?” John asked, the look on his face saying the question was rhetorical. “If he had, you wouldn’t be having this kind of confusion. It sounds to me like you’ve been the target of good, old fashioned flirting and didn’t know it. No offense, Sammy, but you’ve always been oblivious when others flirt with you. Remember how long it took you to realize that Jessica was doing it?”

“Dean nearly gave me a concussion from how hard he smacked me upside the head,” Sam admitted with a sheepish look. He hadn’t mentioned that detail about himself when he spoke with Ellen the previous day. It probably would have been a good idea to tell her that he was as thick as a concrete wall when it came to unexpected advances.

“Exactly. Now, what else did Ellen tell you?”

“I should take the risk, anyway,” Sam answered. “Apparently I need to ‘live a little.’”

“Another thing she’s right about. As important as it is, school shouldn’t be the only thing you focus on. Your mother wants you to give her some in-laws, you know,” John joked.

“Yeah, yeah. I know.”

John paused his task to look at Sam.

“You should just go along with it, Sam. Find out if the guy is interested. Go out on dates. What Dean does or doesn’t do has no say on what you do with your own life. He can throw a fit all he wants, but your mother and I will set him straight if he thinks he can tell you who you can and cannot see. Even if Dean starts out hating the guy, he’ll come around. He always does,” John said.

“You sure you and Mom can handle the fallout?” Sam had to ask.

“We survived the blow up between her and her father over our relationship before he finally came around. I think we’ll survive a similar situation between you and your brother. In case you haven’t noticed, we are a very dramatic family.”

Sam burst into laughter. John wasn’t wrong. There hadn’t been a drama-free week in their family as long as Sam could remember.

“Okay, okay. I’ll go for it. Which reminds me. I should probably text him to let him know I’m done with my homework. He’ll be done with his choir meeting soon,” Sam said. He unlocked his phone and opened his messages. His text was sent seconds later.

“What are you two doing tonight? You didn’t say,” John asked.

“He didn’t say, either. He just asked if I was available. We’ll probably figure something out when I meet him wherever we plan on meeting. He told me to think of something before now, but I’ve been too focused on my homework.”

“Isn’t the rec on campus doing some kind of event now that midterms are over? You mentioned something about it the other day,” John asked.

“Yeah. There’s free billiards, discounted bowling, discounted concessions, and a $5 movie marathon going on courtesy of the student government. Now that you’ve mentioned it, that wouldn’t be a bad idea. Lucifer and I wouldn’t have to worry about running into anyone who would run back to Dean,” Sam said. “Not to mention it’ll be nice on our wallets.”

“Exactly. Lord only knows how broke the both of you are with being college students. Now, why don’t you do your mother proud and go change out of your lounge clothes? You know that’s exactly what she’d be making you do if she were here,” John said.

“Don’t remind me,” Sam groaned. Mary was going to have the opposite kind of fit that Dean would have as soon as she found out Sam was interested in someone again. It would be Valentine’s Day constantly in the house until Mary’s focus moved onto something else.

“Now go,” John urged with an amused smirk.

“Yes, Corporal,” Sam shot back. He let out a laugh and booked it for the hallway before John could throw the nearest object at him.

* * *

 

“Look who’s all dolled up. What did you have planned for us that you’re looking like that?” Lucifer asked with a grin.

“If clean jeans and a clean t-shirt is your definition of dolled up then I’d hate to see what you consider formal wear,” Sam replied. “And we’re going to head into my campus. The rec center has a lot of cool things going on now that midterms are over. We’ll be able to bowl, play pool, or catch a movie.”

“Sounds like your recreational center is significantly better than mine,” Lucifer said as he got into Sam’s car.

“We’ll see about that. Now, are you sure you’re fine with leaving your car at my house? We can easily take your car into campus and leave my car here. Dean isn’t going to throw a fit by seeing my car,” Sam said.

“Yes, I’m fine with it. I doubt your brother even knows what my car looks like. He won’t see me at all. Now come on. Let’s get going. You will learn tonight that I am an attention whore and I need attention now,” Lucifer drew out his last word to make himself sound like a whining child. Sam sputtered out a laugh and shifted his car into drive.

“I am definitely beginning to see that.”

“Anyway,” Lucifer continued, looking out the window in mild fascination of the houses they were passing. “You’ll be surprised to find out that you met Ruby before the other night.”

“I have?” Sam asked. If what Lucifer was correct, then he definitely didn’t remember who Ruby was.

“She confronted me about it the other night,” Lucifer said, turning his attention back to Sam. “She said she used to be friends with your ex girlfriend. Jessica? Claimed she hasn’t spoken with your ex in a long time, though.”

“She used to be friends with Jess?” Sam asked, jerking the steering wheel in shock. He corrected his course before throwing Lucifer a look. “What else did she say? I honestly don’t remember her.”

“Ruby used to bleach her hair. Does that ring any bells?”

Sam tried to remember all of Jess’ friends from before she ran off with Brady. She was a social butterfly, so it wasn’t easy remember any specific person that he wasn’t also friends with. Quite a few got into the habit of bleaching their hair, too, to fit in with the trends.

“Vaguely. I’d need to see a photo of what she looked like back then to know for sure if I have any memory of her,” Sam said.

“Alright. It’s no big deal at the moment. I just thought I’d let you know that Ruby knows who you are. She isn’t going to say anything to Michael yet, but it is something to worry about. Last thing we need is for either of our brothers to find out that we’re interacting,” Lucifer explained.

“Definitely,” Sam agreed. He hoped Ruby didn’t know much about him, too. The last thing he needed was for past rants from Jess coming back and biting him in the ass.


	6. Like A Rabbit with a Carrot

Lucifer stretched out on his bed with his eyes closed while listening to his MP3 on shuffle. He needed to lose himself in something completely to be able to think straight, and music was his go-to option. It made it difficult for others to distract him without physically touching him.

If he was being honest with himself, then last night with Sam was absolute torture. It was difficult having to look but not touch. Lucifer had no way of knowing for sure if Sam would be welcoming of his advances short of jumping right into the deep end and telling Sam his intentions, and Lucifer wasn’t sure he wanted to take that risk so soon. After she took the time to get over her issues with who Sam was, Ruby told Lucifer everything she was able to remember. Even a half-remembered Sam was attractive.

A vibration through his bed caught Lucifer’s attention, and he reached out to grab his cellphone.

**_What are you doing?_ **

“What do you think I’m doing?” Lucifer muttered to himself, typing in a reply to Ruby. “I’m moping over my pitiful existence.”

_ Nothing much. Just listening to my 90’s Pop playlist. What do you want? _

**_Forget what I want. What’s got you in a rut that you’d resort to listening to that?_ **

Lucifer snorted and rolled his eyes. He never could get Ruby to believe that he genuinely enjoyed listening to 90s music.

_ It’s nothing. I’ll get over it after some Nirvana. Now, what was it you wanted? _

**_Remind me to cull your music collection later. I wanted to see how your not-date with Sam was last night._ **

_ I felt like a rabbit with a carrot dangled in front of it last night. _ Lucifer admitted. It would be no use lying to Ruby. She’d find out one way or another. He wasn’t about to let her have the fun of finding out the ‘other’ way. And, as expected, his phone began ringing moments later.

“Yeah?” Lucifer answered after he removed his earbuds.

“ _ Please tell me you’re going to jump him sooner rather than later, _ ” Ruby said. “ _ I do not want to be dealing with you dry humping the furniture because I didn’t get you fixed like the vet suggested. _ ”

“Kiss my ass, Ruby,” Lucifer laughed.

“ _ I mean it, Luce. You are jonesing after Sam like a heroin addict after their next hit. Just tell him you want him in all the naughty ways and be done with it. You’ll be doing all of us a favor. _ ”

“It’s not that simple,” Lucifer said.

“ _ Yes, it is! _ ” Ruby shot back. “ _ He’s a law student. He’ll appreciate the bluntness. He was oblivious as hell with Jess, so he needs it. How do you think she was able to screw around with Brady in the first place? _ ”

“Don’t you dare blame Sam for his ex’s lack of loyalty. That is not his fault,” Lucifer hissed.

“ _ Down, boy. I never said it was. But Jess did take advantage of him and his obliviousness. You shouldn’t assume Sam is going to notice anything you say in between the lines because it’s a foreign language to him. He is the typical nerd when it comes to that,” _ Ruby said.

“But what if it scares him off? He might not appreciate being spoken to that way. I know I wouldn’t.”

“ _ Then how about you just go with the flow and don’t hold yourself back? Individual situations will give you a variety of ways for you to tell him that you’re interested. And, for the love of God, don’t plan anything you say ahead of time. Sam’s not so dense that he won’t notice a rehearsed line when he hears it.” _

“I’m anxious, Ruby, not an idiot. I’m not going to serve Sam any rehearsed or cliche pick-up lines,” Lucifer said. “That’d be shooting myself in the foot.”

“ _ Sometimes you need the reminder. You went all gaga over Nick, and he smacked you upside the head so many times I lost count. Occasionally, I wonder if he did any brain damage, _ ” Ruby said.

Lucifer went silent at the casual mention of Nick. It made him feel guilty for being attracted to Sam. It had been over a year since Nick died, but his emotions for Nick were still there. They were a constant reminder that part of him died along with Nick.

“ _ Look, I’m sorry, _ ” Ruby said after a few moments of silence. “ _ I shouldn’t have mentioned Nick. I know how sensitive you are about him still. _ ”

“I need to move on some time, Rube,” Lucifer said.

“ _ There’s no rush. _ ”

“There kinda is if I want to pursue anything with Sam,” Lucifer pointed out.

“ _ Think over what I said about being blunt with him when the opportunity presents itself and you’ll come to realize what you need to do to move on. It’s in your grasp. I believe in you, Lucifer, _ ” Ruby said.

“Thank you,” Lucifer replied. “Now, I better go. Dinner will be ready soon. Gabriel’s going to need some supervision so he doesn’t burn the house down in Raphael’s absence.”

“ _ Good plan. I’ll talk to you later, Lucifer. Remember to be blunt and you’ll get what you need from Sam, even if it turns out to not be what you want _ .”

“I’ll remember. Later, Ruby.”

Lucifer hung up and tossed his phone aside. Dinner was going to be ready soon, but Gabriel’s shenanigans could wait. Ruby had given him a lot to think about.

* * *

 

“Your father said you were on a date last night, honey. How did it go?” Mary asked as Sam entered the kitchen. He paused mid-yawn, stopping his eye rubbing to give his mother an incredulous look.

“Date? I didn’t have any date last night,” Sam replied.

“Oh, you didn’t? I thought your father said you brought someone to the rec center on campus last night,” Mary said.

“I went with someone, yes, but it wasn’t a date,” Sam said. He shook his head in disbelief and continued towards the fridge.

“If it wasn’t a date, then what was it?”

“We were just hanging out. Didn’t Dad tell you that I don’t even know if this will develop into going on dates?”

“Nope!” Mary said with a smile that told Sam she had been told that small detail.

“Glad to know which parent Dean gets it from,” Sam muttered. Mary burst into laughter.

“Come on, darling. This is a good sign! You’re finally getting on with your life,” Mary said. “Now tell me all about this mystery guy. The details that you didn’t tell your father because he told me all of those last night.”

“You’re not going to let me move about this house without badgering me for information, are you?” Sam asked, already knowing the answer. His dad knew what was going to happen as soon as he revealed that Sam was becoming interested in someone. His mother wasn’t going to rest until she knew everything that Sam knew.

“Why should I? It’s about time you found someone new to date. I want in-laws,” Mary said.

“Mooooom,” Sam whined.

“Yes?”

“Don’t be planning my wedding for me. I don’t even know who I’m marrying yet.”

“Fine,” Mary gave in, giving Sam a smile. “I’ll stop. But I want to hear all the details the next time you and this guy go out. Got it?”

“I got it. Now, if you don’t mind, I’m going to eat my breakfast.”


	7. Drunken Propositions

“Jess was a dream that turned into a nightmare without warning,” Sam explained before taking a sip of his drink. He slouched back into the booth they chose in the corner of Ellen’s bar. “I thought she and Brady were just friends like Brady and I were just friends. I thought I had the perfect support system with the two of them. They never complained about how I was always at the library. They never guilt tripped me for occasionally putting school above everything else. It seemed like I got lucky. I was going to coast through school because I had everything I needed outside of it.”

“How did you find out?” Lucifer asked.

“I found a pair of Jess’ underwear at Brady’s apartment. I pulled it out of his couch. He tried to play it off as coming from a one-night stand that he recently had, but I knew it was Jess’. She had her initials on the tags of all her underwear so she and her roommates didn’t mix wardrobes. He knew they were exposed the moment I showed him the tag,” Sam said.

“Just how stupid are they that they would leave such obvious evidence in the first place?”

“I don’t know,” Sam replied. “I didn’t give either of them much time to make excuses. I collected the few things I left at both of their places and haven’t spoken to them since. A few mutual classmates have passed messages from them to me in an attempt to establish communication again, but I have been ignoring them.”

“I wouldn’t give them the time of day after going through that. They basically knocked you on your ass during one of the most stressful times of your life,” Lucifer said.

“I haven’t,” Sam said. “What about you? You’ve been silent about your most recent ex.”

“I didn’t go through what you did. There was no stressful break up to upheave my entire life.”

“Then what? Quid pro quo.”

“I. . .” Lucifer started, thinking over how he could word it. “Nick died last year.”

“Oh, my god, I’m sorry,” Sam said.

“Don’t be. It was an accident,” Lucifer explained. “He and I got into an argument after a night of drinking, and he ignored my pleas to call a cab when he decided to storm off. I tried so hard to get his car keys away from him. He was having none of it. He pushed me away and left. I got a call from his mother the next morning notifying me that Nick had wrapped his car around a telephone pole about half an hour after leaving my house. The bleeding in his brain killed him before the sun rose. I never got to apologize.”

“God,” Sam repeated.

“I know,” Lucifer said. He took a long sip of his drink. “Ruby always reminds me that it wasn’t my fault. I may have started the argument, but he made the choice to ignore me when I tried to stop him. I didn’t make Nick drive drunk.”

Sam adverted his eyes and frowned. He didn’t know if he would be able to handle that kind of pain. It was difficult enough dealing with Jess cheating on him with his best friend. He doubted he would have been able to deal with her death before they broke up.

“Ruby has been pushing me to move on,” Lucifer continued.

“I’m sure. That’s a lot of pain to be holding on to. I’ve been getting a similar message from my parents,” Sam said.

“They’re pushy, aren’t they?” Lucifer laughed.

“Don’t get me started,” Sam groaned. Lucifer continued to laugh as Sam dropped his head to the table.

“I’m not trying to,” Lucifer said.

“Just what is their issue?” Sam said as he lifted his head, ignoring Lucifer’s statement. “We’re allowed to live our own lives without them constantly badgering us for details. They want us to move on. Well, why can’t they let us move on at our own pace? What if we’re not sure of the person we may be interested in? What if we need time to figure out if they’re worth the possible pain?”

“I think you’ve had too much to drink,” Lucifer said, his laughs slowing down as he took Sam’s glass away. “You’re ranting.”

“I deserve to rant. You deserve to rant. Ranting is a good option at the moment.”

“I’m pretty sure the person I’m interested in is worth the risk, so I don’t have much to rant about at the moment. Just need to figure out a way to tell them I’m interested,” Lucifer said.

“Come on, then. Practice on me. What about them interests you?” Sam asked. He looked at Lucifer with a helpful expression. Lucifer looked back into Sam’s glazed eyes, snorting slightly in amusement.

“Well, they’re just as dedicated to their schooling as I am. They’re loyal to their family. Sarcastic little sucker, too. They’ve gotten me a few times on some verbal slip ups I’ve made. We’ve spent some time together, but I’m not sure how they feel about me,” Lucifer said.

“Go on. Go on. What do they look like?” Sam said. “There’s gotta be something about them that catches your eye.”

“They’re certainly the tallest person I’ve ever been attracted to. They make all my exs look like dwarves,” Lucifer said with a grin.

“I can relate. I make everyone feel like hobbits. Quite a few friends over the years have told me so,” Sam laughed.

“I bet,” Lucifer said.

“What else? What else? You’re supposed to be practicing here.”

“They’ve got the best smile,” Lucifer continued. “It lights up their entire face every time they smile.”

Sam gave Lucifer a grin that made him look like a cat that finally caught the mouse.

“There you go. Focus on that. That’s usually a great place to start. Now, what are you going to say to get them to realize that you’re interested?”

“Find a Shakespeare line?” Lucifer suggested. It was half sarcastic and half a real question. Lucifer would quote Shakespeare all day at Sam if Sam liked it.

“God, no. Too corny. Save that for later after the relationship is well on its way,” Sam said. “If you’re gonna be poetic, then go unique. Bad or not, your own work is more attractive when you’re trying to attract someone for the first time.”

“I could always sing. A serenade is within my talents,” Lucifer grinned.

“No,” Sam said, his eyes widening as he remembered the conversations with his parents.

“Okay, then what would you suggest? What would  _ you _ be interested in?” Lucifer asked. This was an opportunity that Ruby had warned him about. Of course Sam had to be half plastered when it happened.

“Honesty. Plain honesty. I never see hints and heavy suggestions. It took me a few weeks and a head smack from my brother to realize that Jess was interested in dating me. Just straight out say you want to go on a date with me,” Sam explained, half rubbing his head in memory of the smack Dean gave it.

“Go on a date with me,” Lucifer said back.

“Yeah. Simple as that. I don’t see why everything has to be in between the lines, anyway. If you’re interested in someone, then tell them,” Sam continued to rant, not seeing that Lucifer had been serious.

“Go on a date with me,” Lucifer repeated.

“I get it. You are iffy about being so blunt. You rarely are from what I can tell. But I’m telling you, being upfront with your feelings is a trend that needs to come back,” Sam said.

“Oh, my fucking god, Ruby was right. You are thick headed,” Lucifer let out, making Sam look at him in confusion. Lucifer let out an irritated sigh before looking Sam in the eyes to make it obvious that he was being serious. “Go on a date with me.”

Sam swallowed hard, his eyes bulging out in shock. It was one thing to give dating advice. It was another thing to have that same advice turned around and used on you.

“Are you…are you sure? I’m not exactly the…” Sam started.

“Yes, I’m sure. Like I just said a few moments ago, I’m know you’re worth the risk. Fuck Michael if he thinks I’m going to let his little tiff with your brother hold me back. Now, I’m being as blunt as I can be here. Go on a date with me.”

“Yeah,” Sam replied, swallowing hard. “Sure. I’ll go.”


	8. Date Planning

“We’re going on a date tonight,” Sam said, causing John to sputter out the coffee he had just attempted to drink.

“What?” John asked, giving Sam a dirty look for the pain from coffee going through his nose.

“He...he asked me to go on an actual date with him. It’s tonight,” Sam explained. He pushed his scrambled eggs around his plate to avoid looking at his father.

“We gonna get a name now?” John asked as he set his coffee down. “Your mother has moved on to interrogating me. Please tell me we’re going to get a name now.”

“It’s Lucifer,” Sam said. “I’ve been hanging out with Lucifer Shurley.”

“Lucifer,” John said. He let out a snort before turning back to his newspaper. “Your mother’s going to have a field day with that one.”

“Dad!” Sam whined.

“You know her and her obsession with learning about various religions. If you don’t get a fallen angel joke out of her before your second date, then your mother was replaced with a pod person and must be killed immediately.”

“Mom is not a pod person,” Sam said. He gave his father a bitch face, causing John to laugh.

“I know she ain’t. Now, what are you two going to do for your date tonight? You’ve got to do something different from what you two usually do. A date is far different from hanging out.  _ Surely _ you know this,” John said.

“I don’t know. Lucifer said it was a surprise. He’s a tad over dramatic, though, so it’s probably something simple. There’s too many possibilities, so I can’t even begin to guess what it is,” Sam replied, ignoring the pun that his father was now grinning over.

“Whatever you do, remember that your mother and I will come get you if you call. Any time of the night,” John reminded his son.

“Yes, Dad. I know,” Sam said. His parents were always so protective. However, he didn’t think he’d need to call them tonight.

* * *

 

“What do you mean you haven’t planned anything yet?” Ruby shrieked as Lucifer darted back and forth across his room.

“I haven’t planned anything yet!” Lucifer yelled back when he paused inside his closet. “I told Sam that I would plan everything, to not worry about figuring anything out, and I don’t even know what I’m going to wear!”

“Lucifer, you have got to be the most ignorant twit I have ever had the misfortune to meet. Why would you tell Sam that you would have everything planned out if you didn’t already have something in mind? Honestly!” Ruby said.

“Well, excuse me. I was a tad preoccupied with making sure Ellen called Dean to come pick Sam up so he didn’t panic over me driving him home, myself,” Lucifer snapped back.

Lucifer looked over his collection of dress shirts and wondered how he could have nothing to wear. None of it seemed fitting enough for a date with Sam. Nick? Yes. The few girls he’d gone on dates with? Sure. Sam? None of it was good enough.

“Just what are you doing in there, anyway?” Ruby said, appearing at the closet door. “Looking for Narnia?”

“Nothing I have is suitable,” Lucifer pouted.

“You’re stressing over your  _ clothes _ ? Lucifer, come on,” Ruby said.

“I have no idea what to wear, Ruby. He’s not like all the others I’ve gone on dates with. He’s...just not.”

“A t-shirt and pair of jeans will be more than suitable. Dressing up is not him, Lucifer. That’s why you’re not finding anything in here. Go out to your dresser and pick something out from your casual clothes. Hell, pick one of the many graphic t-shirts that Gabriel has given you over the years,” Ruby suggested.

“Really?” Lucifer asked as he scrunched his face. “Some of those shirts are rather vulgar.”

“The boy will like it, Lucifer. Now get your ass out here and pick the most vulgar t-shirt you own,” Ruby ordered.

“That’s going to be a tad difficult,” Lucifer muttered as he walked past Ruby. Gabriel took it as a personal challenge to find Lucifer the most offensive t-shirt in existence. Lucifer hadn’t even worn over half of them out of fear of their mother’s wrath.

“Just do it. Now, I’m going to head down the hall and see what Michael’s up to. I need to figure out how I’m going to distract him so you can get out of the house unnoticed. You mentioned that Eve is out shopping with her bridesmaids, yeah?” Ruby asked.

“Yes. Eve’s settled on a color, but she still doesn’t know what dress she wants them all to wear.”

“I can use that to my advantage. Have fun tonight and don’t do anything I wouldn’t do,” Ruby said before walking out the door.

“Like that’s hard!” Lucifer yelled after her. He could hear her laughs echo through the hall.

Turning back to his current task, Lucifer walked over to his dresser and opened the top drawer. If Ruby said it was best to dress casual, then Lucifer was going to dress casual. He just had to figure out if his definition of casual was the same as Ruby’s.


	9. Gabriel's Conniption

Sam fiddled with the hem of his shirt as he sat on the front of his car waiting for Lucifer to meet up with him. He felt awkward being outside Ruby’s house by himself, but Lucifer convinced him it was the best place to leave one of their cars. Ruby assured her parents would leave it alone if it was left there overnight for any reason. Sam halfway wondered what reason Lucifer was expecting to happen that they needed a safe place to keep one of their cars, but he didn’t dwell on it. He’d just overthink it if he did.

A honk caught Sam’s attention, making him lift his head to see Lucifer’s car roll up. Sam smiled and followed the car as Lucifer parked it in the driveway instead of on the street.

“We’ll just go ahead and leave my car here. Ruby and I have gone out drinking enough times that her parents know where I keep my hide-a-key in case they need to move my car,” Lucifer spoke up as he got out.

“Seems like this is your second home,” Sam commented.

“Oh, yeah. Ruby and I first met back in middle school when she and her family moved here. Her parents are great. Now, on to more interesting things. Ready to go?” Lucifer rubbed his hands together in excitement as he gave Sam a grin, earning another smile from Sam.

“Yes. Going to tell me where we’re going?” Sam asked as the two of them headed over to his car.

“It’s a secret. I’ll tell you where to turn and how to get there. Just drive,” Lucifer said.

Sam rolled his eyes in irritated amusement. He already knew that Lucifer was bossy and needy, but it was going to be interesting seeing how that would affect the rest of the evening.

* * *

 

“How?!” Lucifer whined from his bar stool.

Sam smirked as he aimed and pocketed another ball before slowly walking around the pool table to figure out his next shot. Lucifer hadn’t gotten more than two turns per game since they started, and the constant losing was getting to Lucifer.

“Dean and I like to screw around with frat boys that wander into Ellen’s bar during Spring Break.”

“That is absolutely not fair!”

“You never asked if I was good at pool,” Sam replied. He took his final shot, putting the 8 ball in the pocket he aimed for.

“Okay, we need to play a game that I actually have a chance at winning. None of this you running the table crap anymore,” Lucifer insisted as he set his cue stick back on the nearby rack.

“What do you suggest, then?” Sam asked. He pushed all the balls into the pockets so they’d go back into the table’s holding mechanism before putting his own cue stick away.

“There’s always bowling.”

“I kicked your ass the last time we went bowling, too,” Sam pointed out with a smirk. Lucifer returned it with a glare, pouting as he tried to think of something else they could do.

“Okay, fine. No more games. You have any ideas?”

“There’s that new club on Sussex Ave. Everyone on campus has been raving about it the last few months. It’s been getting quite popular among the college crowd,” Sam offered.

“You wanna go clubbing?” Lucifer asked, finally taking on an amused look again. He grabbed the hem of Sam’s shirt and pulled the taller man closer to him, gaining a surprised squeak as Sam grabbed onto Lucifer’s arm to steady himself. The look on Lucifer’s face turned into a smirk. “Now, _Sammy_ , surely going clubbing together would be too forward at this point in our relationship.”

Sam let out a bitch face at the nickname. Only Dean and his parents were ever allowed to call him that. Not even Jess got away with it. Sam opened his mouth to throw back a sarcastic comment on how already using nicknames was being too forward, but he was interrupted before he could get a word out.

“Lucifer! Do my eyes deceive me or have I finally been granted the opportunity to crash one of your dates?” Gabriel yelled from a few pool tables away.

Lucifer scrunched his face in annoyance, unable to hide his frown when Sam took a step away.

“Gabriel, what the fuck are you doing here?” Lucifer asked bluntly once his little brother was closer. Lucifer was so close to sneaking a peck on Sam’s cheek as he teased about going clubbing. He was not happy with the interruption.

“Guys’ Night Out, remember?” Gabriel motioned to the group behind him that was setting up the table Gabriel originally yelled from. “Now, who’s your date?”

“Sam,” Sam answered before Lucifer could. Sam gave Gabriel a hard look when the younger Shurley turned to him. The hard look was returned a second later when recognition flashed across Gabriel’s face.

“Sam _Winchester_ ,” Gabriel hissed.  He gave Lucifer a glare. “What the flying fuck are you doing with a goddamn Winchester, Lucifer?”

“Who I date is none of your concern, Gabriel,” Lucifer snapped back. “Now watch it.”

“Watch it? Fuck that. Just you wait until Michael gets a load of this horseshit you’re pulling. I mean, a fucking _Winchester_ , Lucifer?!” Gabriel continued.

Sam turned on his heel to collect his wallet and phone off the nearby table. It didn’t matter where this discussion was going because it was going to end after he reached his car. He wasn’t going to stay and let it escalate.

“Jesus fucking… Sam, wait,” Lucifer called out at Sam’s back, hurrying to collect his own things. He would normally stay to knock Gabriel down a few notches, but Sam was more important at the moment.

“I’m calling Michael,” Gabriel growled when it became clear to him that Lucifer was no longer listening to his ranting.

“Go ahead! See if I care! This stupid feud that he and Dean Winchester have going on has to end some time!” Lucifer yelled at Gabriel, ignoring the looks nearby patrons were giving the two of them.

Lucifer didn’t pause long enough to give Gabriel a chance to yell back. As soon as his wallet and phone were in his pockets, Lucifer was rushing after Sam. He barely made it to the car before Sam could get in and drive off without him.

“Go to your friend, Ellen’s,” Lucifer insisted as he buckled in.

“Won’t that be an obvious place for us to run off to?” Sam asked. He was barely buckled in a few seconds when he pulled his phone out and hit his father’s speed dial.

“Yes, but we won’t be there long,” Lucifer replied, taking out his own phone to call Ruby. “Gabriel will know I would have left my car at Ruby’s place once he realizes he didn’t see my car in the lot. You can drop me off and go straight home.”

Sam paused his thumb above the dial button as he gave Lucifer an incredulous look.

“I am _not_ leaving you there alone while your siblings come down on you like a pack of vultures.”

“Just drive, Sam!” Lucifer hissed. He turned his head away from Sam so he could put more focus on speaking with Ruby once she picked up her phone. He sincerely hoped she wasn’t still at his house.

Frowning, Sam hit dial to call his father and started the car. It was going to be interesting explaining why his parents should find Dean as soon as possible.


	10. First and Last Confrontations

Sam and Lucifer slammed the car doors behind them before booking it for the employee entrance to Ellen’s bar. Jo was waiting there to usher them in, as promised when Sam called the bar after his call to his dad. Jo swore under her breath as she reactivated the security lock once all three of them were inside.

“Sam!” Jo started, but she paused when a shaky breath escaped her. She took a moment to even her breath out before motioning towards Lucifer. “This bullshit with Dean and this one’s brother needs to stop. The hell are you doing with Lucifer, anyway?”

“We were on a date, Jo,” Sam explained in a level tone. He didn’t want to get Jo worked up any further.

“A date? Fun way to end it, Sam. Hiding out in the back of Mom’s bar while you wait for your new boy toy’s best friend to come pick him up. Fantastic ending!”

“I apologize for the urgency, Miss Harvelle,” Lucifer inserted before Sam could say anything else. “I have no idea if Ruby can beat Michael here. He tore out of our parents’ driveway before Ruby could even attempt to stop him.”

“You’re lucky my mother likes you,” Jo replied. She gave Sam an exasperated look and turned on her heel to return to the front of the bar.

“She seems nice,” Lucifer commented once Jo was out of earshot.

“She’s one of the few girls I’ve seen who’s capable of handling Dean,” Sam said. “Jo hates this thing between Dean and your brother almost as much as my parents do.”

“It’s only going to get worse now,” Lucifer said with a frown.

“I know. I didn’t know how to tell Jo that Dean is on his way, as well.”

“We’ll figure it out. Shall we go greet the elder Miss Harvelle?” Lucifer asked, gesturing in the direction Jo left.

“We should,” Sam admitted. “Michael and Dean are going to come in through the front entrance when they get here. And that won’t be long, now, because of how long it took us to get here, ourselves. Ellen should be warned.”

Sam led Lucifer into the employee section of the bar, greeting Ellen’s bus boy with a nod. Ellen saw them before they saw Ellen.

“Boys, you better not be bringing trouble up in here. I want you in and out before either of your brothers get here,” Ellen said as Sam and Lucifer approached her on the far side of the bar.

“Depends on how fast Ruby gets here, Ellen,” Sam replied. “I doubt she has a lead foot like Dean.”

“Or Michael. He burned rubber when he left our parents’ house,” Lucifer inserted.

“Well, you best bet neither of them start anything because I  _ will _ be ending it,” Ellen warned them both.

“We’ll step in this time. Don’t worry,” Sam assured her.

“Prove it,” Jo hissed as she approached where they were standing. “Benny just told me that Dean has arrived like a bat out of hell, and a red Mustang was behind him.”

“Michael,” Lucifer said, giving Sam a worried look.

“You heard the lady, Lucifer. Let’s go prove it. We need to stop them before they send each other to the ER again,” Sam replied.

“I’m giving you ten minutes, boys. After that, it’s 911,” Ellen warned them.

“Understood. Come on, Lucifer,” Sam said as he went through the employee’s gate on the side of the bar counter and headed for the front entrance. Lucifer stayed close behind Sam, not wanting to give Ellen a chance to yell at him without Sam there as a buffer.

Dean and Michael’s voices could be heard yelling at each other in the parking lot before Sam opened the front entrance. Sam let out a groan when he saw the two of them face-to-face outside their cars.

“Look, I don’t give a shit what he thinks he’s doing! Keep your freak of a brother away from mine!” Dean screamed a few inches away from Michael’s face.

“I should be saying the same thing to you!” Michael screamed back.

“Jesus fuck, Michael!” Lucifer spoke up as he and Sam approached their brothers. “Get over yourself! Last I checked, I’m a fully grown adult capable of making my own damn decisions.”

“Winchesters cannot be trusted,” Michael snapped.

“I’ll be the one to determine that, thanks. Last I checked, Sam’s trustworthiness has never been brought into question,” Lucifer said. He gave Michael a hard look when it looked like his older brother was going to say something again.

“Sammy, I honestly don’t give a fuck what you see in him. His name is  _ Lucifer _ . That should be your first sign to stay clear,” Dean confronted Sam.

“Oh, come on! You are not using that as an excuse, Dean,” Sam replied. “Do you realize just how hard Mom is going to smack you for even uttering that? It’s bullshit.”

The loud roar of another car approaching the bar caught the attention of all four men before any of them could say anything else. Lucifer swore under his breath when he recognized it as Gabriel’s car, and he stepped in front of Sam when Gabriel came flying out the driver’s side door.

“Glad to know I arrived before the best part started!” Gabriel said as he approached the group. “So, Lucifer, has Michael talked some sense into you yet or do you need some extra prodding?”

“Cool it, Gabriel. I’m handling this,” Michael inserted.

“Handling it, my ass,” Gabriel shot back, motioning to Lucifer’s position in front of Sam.

“Gabriel, go the fuck home,” Lucifer ordered.

Sam let out a huff and grabbed Dean’s arm to drag him away from the arguing Shurley brothers and confront him privately. Dean ripped his arm away with a glare towards Sam, but he didn’t comment about the manhandling.

“Dean, seriously, just go home. Ellen already threatened to call 911 if we all don’t clear out soon,” Sam started.

“I’m not leaving you with him, Sam. I go home, then you’re going home with me. Fuck your car. I’ll have Jo drive it home after her shift,” Dean said.

“Dean, Lucifer is not Michael. Why must your tiff with one Shurley extend to all the others?”

“Michael started it by including you. Do you know how many times I’ve heard about that little fuck Gabriel threatening to jump you on sight if he was given the opportunity?”

“Lucifer is not Gabriel, either! Believe me, Dean, there is an entirely different kind of jumping going on in Lucifer’s mind when it comes to me. Just leave it be and go home,” Sam pushed. He didn’t give Dean the chance to argue more. He turned and walked back over to where Lucifer was with his brothers, intent on getting Lucifer to leave and let their brothers deal with the shitstorm that would be created if they ignored Ellen’s warnings.

“Lucifer, come on. They’re not listening. Let’s wait for Ruby inside,” Sam said, putting himself in between all the Shurley brothers.

“Lucifer is coming home with us,” Gabriel hissed.

“I’m capable of making my own choices,  _ little brother _ ,” Lucifer snapped before addressing Sam. “Agreed. Let’s go wait for Ruby inside.”

“Lucifer,” Michael began, following Lucifer and Sam towards the bar. Dean followed suit, refusing to leave Sam alone with all the Shurleys regardless of the fact that his girlfriend’s mother was the owner of the bar.

“Michael, I’m fine. Just go home,” Lucifer said over his shoulder.

Sam gave Ellen a ‘Pity Me’ look as soon as he stepped through the front door.

“Ten minutes is up!” Ellen yelled out as soon as she registered the look on Sam’s face, reaching for her phone at the same time.

“Sam, come on,” Dean insisted as he tried pulling his brother towards the back of the bar. “Jo will take good care of your car. I promise.”

“Dean, seriously!” Sam jerked away from Dean.

“Just what the hell does she think she’s doing?” Gabriel asked, pointing at Ellen.

Lucifer looked back and forth in a deliberate way to delay answering so Ellen would have a few more moments on the phone. He knew Gabriel would try to interrupt.

“Well, seeing as how two known rivals have just walked into her bar, I’m willing to bet she’s calling the cops.”

“The hell she is!” Gabriel snapped before storming towards Ellen. Lucifer and Michael both dove after Gabriel in an attempt to stop him, both of them knowing that you don’t screw around with Ellen Harvelle, but the younger Shurley brother was used to getting away from his older siblings. He had ripped Ellen’s phone out of her hand and slammed it on the counter before Lucifer or Michael could catch up. “Now, you wouldn’t want to be causing any issues, would you?”

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” Dean snapped, seeing red. He stormed away from Sam to get in Gabriel’s face.

“Boy, back off and get the hell out of my bar,” Ellen growled. Gabriel turned away from his interrupted retort towards Dean to see a gun barrel in his face. Lucifer looked towards Sam in horror as the entire bar went silent around them.

“You seem to be mistaken about the situation. I’m not leaving without my brother,” Gabriel said.

“Go on ahead and take Michael with you, then. Just get the hell out,” Ellen replied.

“Wrong brother,” Gabriel said.

Michael tensed up and started inching towards Gabriel, catching Lucifer’s attention. Michael only got that kind of tense when he planned on running interference. Lucifer saw it multiple times when Michael would interrupt arguments between their brother, Raphael, and their cousin, Castiel. It made Lucifer uneasy seeing it now.

“I said…” Ellen began to repeat herself.

A second later, Gabriel was diving forward and grabbing at Ellen’s handgun. He had both Ellen’s handgun and Ellen over the counter before Michael could grab him. Jo let out a scream and jumped over the counter after her mother when Ellen’s head cracked against the floor, but Dean grabbed her and dragged her away as Ellen and Gabriel continued to tussle on the floor. Both Sam and Lucifer jumped in to try and pull Ellen and Gabriel away from each other.

Michael stepped forward to try and stop the fight over the gun, as well, but froze when a loud bang echoed throughout the bar. Everyone looked on in shock as Ellen slowly dragged herself away from Gabriel, who lie still in a growing pool of blood.

“Mom!” Jo called out as she tore away from Dean and ran towards her mother. Ellen held one hand to a wound on her head and another to her stomach, where Gabriel’s pocket knife was sticking out. Sam groaned as he held his own hands to a knife wound on his stomach, blood gushing out around his fingers. Lucifer held similar pressure to the grazing bullet wound on his side that barely missed him before hitting Gabriel. “Someone call 911!”

Michael and Lucifer were by Gabriel’s side in an instant. Lucifer pressed his fingers into Gabriel’s throat, looking for a pulse, but he gave Michael a grave look when he couldn’t find one. Michael began vibrating with terror as everything from the last few moments began to fully register. He whipped out his cell phone and dialed 911 as he watched Lucifer leave Gabriel’s side to go to Sam’s.


	11. Back in the ER

“Sir, just relax. The doctor will be here soon to make sure you don’t need to have anything else done,” the nurse placated Sam before leaving his room.

Sam lightly poked at the stitches on his stomach, wincing every time he made contact. The nurse said they weren’t completely done, so it was probably a bad idea to be touching something that should be sterile, but Sam couldn’t help it. It was the first time he had gotten injured in a way that required stitches.

Sam’s thoughts wandered as he sat there. So much had happened that day that he could hardly believe it all happened in a 24-hour period. Just that morning he was joking with his dad about going on a date with Lucifer finally.

Lucifer. Lucifer must be frantic. Sam didn’t want to know how it felt to watch your brother get shot in front of you. To know that, had you been a couple inches over, you would have been the one shot instead. Before he fully registered what he was doing, Sam swung his legs over the side of the bed and stood up. Moments later, he was in the hallway.

Sam looked up and down the hallway before picking a random direction. There was only so many rooms in the ER. Lucifer had to be in one of them.

“Sir, you need to go back to your room and wait for the doctor,” the nurse from before said, noticing Sam.

“I need to find my friend,” Sam insisted. The nurse continued to scold him into returning to his room, but Sam continued down the hall. He paused at the intersection at the end of the hallway to consider which direction to go next.

“Shouldn’t you still be getting looked at?” Sam jumped at the voice and turned towards the source. He expected Michael to be giving him a dark look, but Michael’s face was neutral.

“I’m looking for your brother’s room,” Sam admitted.

“He’s probably still being photographed by the CSI,” Michael said.

A pregnant pause grew between Michael and Sam. Sam had never actually been alone with Michael before, and the other man’s face lacked any kind of expression that would have told Sam how to continue. He had what Lucifer had told him, but most of Sam’s knowledge of Michael unfortunately came from Dean.

“Any idea how things became such a cluster fuck?” Michael said through his teeth, finally letting some kind of expression appear on his face. Pure pain.

“No,” Sam started. Things happened so fast back at the bar that he was still going over all the details in his head. “Ellen… Ellen doesn’t tolerate anyone who doesn’t immediately follow her orders in her bar.”

“I’m sure Gabriel antagonizing her didn’t help,” Michael admitted, turning his eyes to look at the wall as a tear slipped down his face. Michael roughly rubbed it off.

“No,” Sam repeated.

“You know,” Michael continued as if Sam had said nothing. Michael turned his head to look Sam in the face. “Today was the first time in just over a year that I saw Lucifer worried about someone who wasn’t family or a long-time friend. He isn’t one to be overly emotional towards anyone he isn’t invested in.”

“He told me about Nick. I’m sorry he had to go through that,” Sam said.

“Don’t… Just… Just  _ don’t _ put Lucifer through something like that again. Once Lucifer invests himself in someone or something, he gives it his all, and he would be devastated if anything happened. I don’t think he’d recover if he had to go through that kind of emotional turmoil a second time,” Michael rambled.

“I  _ won’t, _ Michael. I have my own experiences that I’ve been muddling through the last few months,” Sam replied.

“I think almost everyone in town knows about Jessica and Brady,” Michael revealed. “She tried to pass along a message to you via me, of all people. I think she got the hint when I laughed in her face and walked away.”

“What?” Sam chuckled.

“Desperate times calls for desperate measures, I would assume.”

Sam opened his mouth to ask more but stopped when a few doctors booked it past him and Michael as a voice over the intercom called out a code blue. They both looked down the hall as medical personnel converged to a single room near the end. It wasn’t until they were all inside that room did Sam register the yelling.

“Jo,” Sam breathed.

“Who?” Michael gave him a strange look.

Sam ignored the question and started going as fast as he could down the hall. While significantly slower than he wanted to be, Sam was soon in front of Dean and Jo as Dean held Jo back from barging into what Sam assumed was her mother’s room.

“MOM!” Jo screamed at the door.

Sam stood off to the side as Jo continued to scream and yell, Dean barely managing to keep her back as the doctors worked. It was a tense several minutes, but it came to an end when a long beep rang through the air.

“No,” Jo cried.

“Call it,” a woman inside the room said.

“NO!” Jo screamed. Dean held her close.

“Time of death 9:57 pm,” a different woman said.

Sam frowned at Dean and Jo as Jo burst into harsh sobs. Ellen’s death was going to shock a lot of people. There wasn’t taking anything from tonight back.


	12. No Decency

“I don’t care! You’re done with me. I’m leaving,” Lucifer argued, pushing his way past the nurse who was trying to keep him in his room.

“Dude, should you really be leaving? I don’t think they’re actually done stitching you up,” Ruby asked as soon as Lucifer was in the hallway.

“I’m fine,” Lucifer hissed, wincing in pain when he stepped weirdly and tugged too much on his stitches.

“Ruby’s right,” Lilith spoke up. “You should let the doctors and nurses do their jobs.”

“I said I’m fine, Lilith. In case you forgot, this could have been a lot worse,” Lucifer snapped. He just wanted to make sure Sam was alright. Sam had been stabbed, of all things. Lucifer only got nicked by a bullet.

“Yeah. You could be in the basement on the table next to Gabriel,” Lilith shot back.

“Enough with the arguing,” Ruby interrupted, stepping in between her two friends. “Lucifer, what the hell happened tonight?”

“Gabriel doesn’t…” Lucifer started, letting out a heavy sigh. “Gabriel  _ didn’t _ know to do as he was told. Ellen Harvelle, Michael, and I repeatedly told him to leave. He didn’t. He instigated a fight with Ellen and got himself shot. He was my brother, and I love him, but his stupidity and stubbornness got him killed.”

“Has Michael called your parents?” Ruby asked.

“No idea. I haven’t seen him since the ambulance dropped me off here,” Lucifer replied before heading down the hall. Ruby followed.

“Ruby, he must have. Michael wouldn’t stay quiet about what happened,” Lilith said, slightly jogging to keep up.

“Lilith, you don’t know Michael. He’s probably waiting on Lucifer before calling,” Ruby insisted.

“Regardless, Michael can call our parents whenever he wants. Right now, I’m a bit preoccupied,” Lucifer said. He started glancing in rooms, looking for that mop of brown hair that Sam called neat for some reason.

“Lucifer, I’m sure Sam is okay. Let’s just get you back to your room and wait for the doctors to finish with you,” Ruby attempted.

“Sam? As in Winchester?” Lilith asked. “Why the hell are you asking about him?”

“Hey, Shurley!”

Lucifer, Ruby, and Lilith turned to see Dean walking towards them with a dark look on his face.

“What now, Winchester? I’m busy looking for your brother,” Lucifer snapped while pushing Lilith back. She had stepped forward to confront Dean.

“Sam’s busy with Jo. You know, your brother’s lucky he’s dead, otherwise I’d already be going after him,” Dean hissed. He rubbed tears off his face as he continued to huff. “Ellen’s  _ dead _ .”

“What?!” Ruby exclaimed as Lucifer gave Dean a shocked look. Lucifer had expected Ellen to survive. The doctors should have been able to stabilize her.

“Too much internal bleeding. She bled out before they could stop it,” Dean continued.

“God…” Lucifer let out. He was horrified. The amount of damage Gabriel had to do to make that happen was not something Lucifer wanted to think his brother was capable of doing. Apparently he was wrong.

“Bitch should have kept her nose out,” Lilith snapped, receiving dirty looks from all three people in front of her.

“Lilith, go home,” Lucifer growled before Dean could open his mouth.

“If she would have just kept her nose out, she and Gabriel would still be alive,” Lilith argued.

Ruby grabbed Lilith and slammed her against the nearest wall, holding her face to the paint as blood slowly dripped out of Lilith’s nose. Lucifer went wide eyed at the sight, ignoring the surprised expression on Dean’s face. Lucifer had seen Ruby kick asses over the years, but he had never seen her go after someone they were close to.

“Now is  _ not _ the time to be trash talking, Lilith. Don’t you understand? People are  _ dead _ because of Michael and Winchester’s little tiff. Gabriel is  _ dead _ . Ellen Harvelle is  _ dead _ . Lucifer and Sam could have  _ died _ tonight,” Ruby hissed. She jerked Lilith’s head away from the wall by her hair. “If there’s a shred of decency in you, you’ll shut the fuck up and go back to the Shurley’s residence.”

Ruby pulled Lilith away from the walk completely and pushed the blonde away from her, giving Lilith a hard glare when it looked like Lilith was going to argue more. Clutching a hand to her bleeding nose, Lilith returned Ruby’s glare before turning and heading down the hall.

“Y’all have the most fucked up friendships I’ve seen,” Dean commented, getting over his initial shock from the scene that just happened in front of him.

“We try,” Ruby answered with a touch of sarcasm. “Funnily enough, I learned that from your brother when he gave Jessica some self-defense pointers.”

“We are not getting into that situation right now,” Lucifer said to prevent any further comments. Ruby knowing Sam’s ex-girlfriend would cause hell in a handbasket with Dean right now. “Dean, we’re sorry for your loss. How is Sam?”

Dean gave Lucifer a strange look, unsure of how to take his condolences.

“Sammy’s fine. He’s gonna be walking tender for a while, but he’s fine.”

“Good. May I see him?” Lucifer asked.

The look on Dean’s face got worse. Ruby let out a snort, understanding what Lucifer was going. He was sucking up to the big brother.

“Uhh… Yeah, sure. I should probably get back to Jo, anyway. They’re this way,” Dean answered.


	13. Amends

Sam lightly pushed his mother away as she got a bit too clingy.

“Mom, I’m fine. They’re not going to do anything to me.”

“Darling, they had you in that room for a long time,” Mary argued. John let out a sigh and pulled his wife away from their youngest, giving Sam a look of amused pity for the mother-henning Mary was going to be doing until Sam’s stomach healed up.

“Mary, he just said that they’re not going to do anything.”

Sam stepped away from his parents’ conversation, taking the chance to stand alone for a moment. Dean was back in an interrogation room as the police figured out what happened at Ellen’s bar. Sam was sure it was a straightforward case. Gabriel started a physical fight and Ellen attempted to defend herself. Nothing much else to do about it.

“Family overcrowding you, too?” Lucifer asked as he walked up. Sam gave him a small smile, nodding.

“You’d think I had just come home from war or something.”

“My parents are acting the same way. Doesn’t help that Michael told them I was nicked by the bullet that killed Gabriel.”

“Brothers. Always a pain in the ass, aren’t they?” Sam asked.

Both of them laughed, clutching at their respective wounds when they put too much pressure on their stitches.

“My parents aren’t sure they’re going to have a public funeral for Gabriel,” Lucifer started, immediately becoming more sober. “They’re worried about the backlash once word gets out  _ how _ he died. They don’t want to deal with an incident.”

“Understandable. My own parents have already told Jo that they’re going to help her with Ellen’s funeral. Ellen’s being interred next to her husband, so a small ceremony is going to be held for close friends and the limited family Jo has left,” Sam said.

“I just can’t believe how much shit has happened the last 24 hours. This morning I was ranting to Ruby about picking out my clothes for our date,” Lucifer replied.

Sam nodded in agreement, turning to look over the lobby. Their various friends and family members were spread out in little islands across the room. It seemed surreal that those little islands were missing two people.

“Michael spoke with me at the hospital,” Sam stated. Lucifer gave him a look of surprise.

“What did he say?”

“I think he gave me his blessing. He said not to hurt you like you were with Nick.”

“Jesus…” Lucifer muttered, looking away for a few moments. “Michael shouldn’t have done that.”

“Yes, he should have,” Sam insisted. “Lucifer, you and I are trying whatever this is between us out despite Michael and Dean’s rivalry. They have seen that we don’t care. Now it’s their turn to bring civility to the table.”

Lucifer didn’t argue, taking his own turn to look over the lobby. Across the room, Dean and Michael exited the back hallway together, seemingly holding a steady conversation without either of them raising their voices.

“Looks like they got the message,” Lucifer said, motioning to their brothers.

Sam watched as Michael and Dean continued to speak quietly to each other for a few moments before separating to walk to their respective parents and partners.

“Looks like. You think it’ll last long?”

“We’ll make it last as long as we damn well please. All we gotta do is make sure Big Brother Mode doesn’t kick in for either of them,” Lucifer replied.

“Agreed,” Sam said. Sam paused for a few seconds before looking back and forth between his family and Lucifer. “Hey, you want to come meet my parents? I’m sure my mother is dying to meet you.”

“Sure, why not? What’s the worst that could happen?”


End file.
